Resilient wheel for vehicles.



o. E sR|zE 1\1n|NE.`

RESILLENT WHEEL FOR vEHLcLEs.'

'APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1916.

'Patented oet. 23,1917.v

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

0. mZl-:Nmlu-i, aEsfmENrwHEEL Flon VEHICLES. l APPuATpoN FILED MAY23.]915.l v 1,243,804. Patented ont 23,1917.

` 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

yTo all whom z' may concern;

oLIE BEIZENDnvE, on 1vrt4i'1vi-i,"1 TEXAS;

EEsILIENT WHEEL EoEvvEHIcLEs.

Application led May 23, 1916. l Serial No. 99,1385.

Be it known that I, OLIE BRIZENDINE, va citizen of. the United States,residing at Miami, in the county of Roberts and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient yWheels forVehicles, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention relates to a resilient wheel for vehicles of that vkindVin which a cushioned and floating hub is connected or locked to a fixedinner rim by means of in-A terlocking sliding members permitting freeradial movement of thehub and rim with relation to each other, butpreventing either from turning in relation to the othen! Theprincipalobject of my invention isv to provide in connection with aiioating hub, pneumatic ,cushion devices bearing on a fixed inner rim,and positive-drive connec- Y .tions between the hub and rim, comprising.

two or more disks'or annular plates having radial interlocking keys ortongues and key-seats or grooves for permitting radial movement of thehub vwith relation to the rim but causing said parts to turnV together.

Another object is lto provide for causing a iioating hub to uniformlybear upon and v compress interior pneumatic'cushion devices through thevmedium of `radially movable 1 blocks interposed betweenlthe hub and saidpneumatic :cushion devices' forv obtaining a cushionV eifect withoutthe,use of a pneu,- matic tire usually employed for this purpose. f

Anotherv object is to provide forfunii-' formly distributing theypressure of a. floating hub at all points oncushioningdevices withinarim to which the spokes are'atztached and to connectisaid hub with thee"rim by means of .interlocking sliding 'mem bers for providing ease andresilience of movement without a pneumatic tire.

Other objects and lpurposes. ofmy invention will 4appearin` the detail;description of the wheel; f

rThe matter constituting my inventionwill. be defined inthel claims.-I`Will now describe the-'details of construction by reference to theaccompanying Adrawingsfin .which-- Figure l vrepresents an .elevation ofone# 1 halfVv of the'outer'face of awheel.

Fig. 2 represents a transverse section of myimproved wheel;A

Fig. 3 represents a perspective .transverse` sectionwof a solidwoodentire, inA enlarged scale. .y v v Fig. represents the outer faceview of the hub portion, on enlargedscale andwith thevouter cover plateremoved.

Fig. 5 k represents an inner face view of the main disk.

Fig. @represents a perspective View of one of the movable disks having.tongues and grooves.' Y. c i

In the construction of myresilient wheel for automobiles `and the like Iprovide in; terior pneumatic cushion devices bearing attheir outerlsurfaces onv an inner rim to which theinner ends of the spokes areattached, and within such cushion devices I provide radially movablesegmental blocks the Vcushion-s and at their inner edges on a estarasrainer onnrcn.

iioatingfhub and axle. VThe hub-sleeve is4 connected to the fixed rimthroughV the mediumL of 'interlocking Y radially sliding memberscomprisingr annular disks or plates having interlockingradial keys ortongues radial movement of the hub with relation to they rim and'against vthe cushion devices, but at the `same time V.cause said-partsto turn together. Meansare also provided for-caus-V ing the segmentalblocks. tofmove outward and inward in radial flines so as to'press .80and key-seatsor grooves which permit-free uniformly on the cushiondevices. In this p. y.

. construction f the cushion devices are pro# tected from excessivewearor. -stram and they provide `the/desired,resilience to overcomejarfand j olt and permitsthe use of a l solidtire which is. not subjecttopunctureor undue wear, I also provide inconnection with theaboveprincipal parts, certain de` tails of construction which .will now i be.

made clear ,by a description referringjby numerals -particularly to the.drawings.

To the axle l 'is keyed a hub-sleeve" 2 having rigidlyy secured to itsinner end a,V

maine' disk 2a, the arrangement being vsuch n' aslto forma chamber l@Lbetween it andthe main parts'jofith'e wheel. Within this cham.-VV f berar'efplacedthe' radially movable andin terlocking'annular disks 3, 3a,3b, providing avcircular vchamber or :space 1b between theirI,-inneredges and the hub 2, in which the latterf'can-freelymove in any radiald1- recti'o'n. 5 A concaveannular housing plate 6,

having-an `outerilange 6a, and a .main annular inner plate 7 aresecuredby bolts 8a" to a'narrow annular rim plate 8 on the outer -V faceof the wheel. The bolts 8a alsospasstween-the outer edges of the blocks14 and through the inner ends ofthe spokes 12 and hold them in place.The flange 6a, the band 13, and the annular plate 8 formuthe inner-fixedrim of the wheel. The band 13 is preferably curved transversely andforms a bearing for the outer faces of the pneumatic cushions 15. plainsmooth outer surface, over which the annular housing- 6 can freely moveas the hub is forced into different positions with respect to the wheelwhen the'vehicle is` in motion. This housing, in connection with disk2a, forms a closed chamber 1a for eX- cluding dust from the interlockingdisks and inner face of the wheel.

For the purpose of connecting the hubsleeve withA the wheel, Ipreferably use three interlocking radially sliding disks 3, 3a, 3b inconnection with the outer main disk 2a and the inner main annular-plate7, though two or more maybe used when provided with properly pla/cedkeys and keyseats, each is provided in one face with' a diainetricradial groove or seat 5, and on the other face with a diametrical radialkey or tongue a at one eighth of the arc of the' circle from theopposite groove 5. The inner face of disk 2a is provided with adiametric tongue4 2b, with which the groove 5 of the disk 3 engages, andthe main plate 7 is provided with a diametric radial key 7a engagingwith a groove or seat in the adjacent disk 3". rI`he wheel can thus bepositively driven from the axle or liub-sleeve. Eight slidinginterlocking connections are thus provided and the wheel will slide,during its revolution, into any intermediate positionbetween a radialkey in one plate, and

a radial key in an adjacent plate, wherever the thrust or pressure is'applied.

The spokes 12 arey secured at their outer ends to a wooden or otherfelly 9 ina well Lknown manner.

the solid tire 10 in the usual manner".V The tire is preferably madeofspecially pre'- having initered ends 111" adapted to abut against oneanother, as shownv in Fig.r 4,.

and also having transverse radial grooves or key seats 14C;L in theirouter faces.` These blocks may be made of wood, vulcanizedber-composition, or other material, with arc-shaped and trz'insverselyvcurved outerv edges, forming seats for the outer cushions. Four air bagsor cushions 15 of arc shape and made of rubber are secured in place-be.v

rThe ni'ain disk 2a has 'ar` Three disks, as shown, beinglin useV A.clampingvor gripping` band 9CL is secured to the fe-l'ly and engages"the rim, being spaced apart by four triangular supportsand protectors16. These devices have transverse openings through which are passedtubes 15a connecting the four air bags together, thus permitting air toflow from one bag to another when subje'cted to'^pressure. Thetriangular supports 16 may be hollow and made of sheet metal andsecuredto the rim. rIlhe opposite sides are spacedapart by tubularsleeves 16a through which are passed bolt-s,`

or vrivets for holding the sides together. The outer corners of blocks14 are cut off diagonally as shown in Fig. L1' so asto form spacesbetween the blocks and the supports 16 in which the air bags may lapunder pres'- suref.

-An outer cover plateV 17, Fig. 2, ispref-v erably secured by rivets tother triangi'ilary larly inwardly projecting band or flange I7 ispreferably secured to the inner edge of'` the main annular plate 7 so asto bear upon the opposite faces of the blocks 14. Inside of flange 17aare'four inwardlyprojecting keys or tongues 18 secured to plate`17 andwhich engage with the radialV seats or grooves 14a in the radiallymovable-'blocks 14 and serve toguide them when pressed againstl the aircushions.Y

Having described my invention, (what IV .claim'and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. In a resilient wheel, thel combination withan inneriiXed rim and a hubsleeve, of aseries of spaced arc-shaped air cushionslbearing on the inner part of the rim` and having internal communicationwith Jeach other; means forholdingthe air/cushions against creepingonsaid inner partof the rim; a'plurality of radially movable vblocksarc-shaped at their outer edges and bearing onsaid connected cushionsand having radial keyegrooves;y an outer cover'4 plate held in rigidengagement with the inner4 plate and having radial keys or tonguesengaging with said grooves; and interlocking slid: ing membersconnecting the hub sleevev with the Xed rim, for driving the wheel.

2. In a resilient wheel, the ycombination with an inner 'fixedrimanda'hub sleeve, of a series of arceshaped air cushions bearing'.onthe inner part of the rim; means for holding the air cushions fromcreepingr on the-,inner part ofthe rim 5 a @plurality ofiradiallymovable blocks arc-shaped at their cuter edges and bearing on saidcushions and having radial key grooves; any outer cover plate held inrigid engagementwith the inner plate and having radial keys or tonguesengaging with said grooves; and interlocking sliding members connectingthe hub-sleeve with the iXed rim, for driving the wheel.

3. In a resilientJ wheel, the combination with an inner lixed rim and ahub-sleeve, of a series of spaced arc shaped air cushions bearing on theinner part of the rim, protecting supports secured to the rim and eX-tending between the cushions, a plurality of radially movable blocks,are shaped at their outer edges and bearing on said cushions and havingradial key-grooves, van outer cover-plate riveted to the supports on therim and having radial keys or tongues engaging with said grooves andinterlocking sliding members connecting the hub sleeve with the fixedrim, for driving the wheel.

4. In a resilient wheel, the combination with an inner iXed rim and ahub sleeve, of an inner pneumatic tire disposed around the innerperiphery of the rim and comprising a series of enlarged sectionsforming arcl shaped air cushions and an alternate series of reducedsections connecting the enlarged sections together; protecting supportssecured to the rim close to the alternate reduced portions of the tireand extending between the enlarged portions thereof to prevent the tirefrom creeping on the rim; a plurality of radially movable blocksarcshaped at their outer edgesand bearing on said enlarged sections ofthe pneumatic tire and having radial key-grooves; an outer cover-plateheld in rigid engagement with the inner plate and having radial keys ortongues engaging with said grooves; and interlocking slidingmembersconnecting the hub-sleeve with the iXed rim, for driving `theWheel. In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

OLIE BRIZENDINE.

Witnesses:

I-I. E. BAIRD, GEORGE Gr. FLETCHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

